Gambler Who Left Child In Car Makes Custody Bid

May 13, 1994|By Linda Young, Tribune Staff Writer.

The Naperville toddler who was left alone in a parked car for more than eight hours Tuesday while her mother gambled aboard an Aurora riverboat casino will remain at least temporarily in the custody of the state Department of Children and Family Services.

Aurora police found 2 1/2-year-old Kristie Stackowski unhurt late Tuesday. Her mother, Sherry Stackowski, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of child neglect.

Sherry Stackowski, 26, declined to comment Thursday after a hearing in Kane County Juvenile Court.

"She's doing whatever she can to cooperate with DCFS and taking whatever steps are necessary to get her child back," said her court-appointed attorney, Robert Jung, a Kane County public defender. Jung said his client could get Kristie back after another hearing next month.

Stackowski said Wednesday that she boarded the City of Lights II shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday so she could pay a $10 debt to another patron before the boat sailed. She said she then planned to return immediately to her vehicle.

Instead, the boat sailed while she was on board, so she played the slot machines for more than three hours until she was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Police alleged Stackowski took another player's cup of coins, which was filled with about $127.

While Stackowski was being booked on that charge, police were alerted that a child had been found in a car parked in a city parking garage. The child was taken into DCFS custody, and when Stackowski returned to her vehicle she was arrested.

Stackowski said Wednesday that she did not tell police about Kristie's whereabouts because she feared additional charges.

DCFS spokeswoman Martha Allen said the department had provided some services to Sherry Stackowski as a child, but Allen said Stackowski was never a ward of the state. Allen did not elaborate on the nature of the services. The department is investigating an earlier charge of inadequate supervision against Stackowski.

She was due in court June 9.

A state's attorney's spokesman said it was unlikely that felony charges will be filed.